The Tumbling Towers
by Raining Dreams
Summary: I figured I'd try my had at Lemony's style. It contains spoilers for the Slippery Slope, and is supposed to be book the eleventh. I woulden't read this miserable tale if I were you... Chapter the Sixth up!
1. Chapter the first

|WARNING: This contains Slippery Slope spoilers!!! |  
  
| A/N & disclaimer: I do not own the Baudelaires, their riches, Count Olaf and his troupe ( thank the heavens! ) or anything else in the Series of Unfortunate Events series. I do however, own Lily Ackart, as she is me, and partially own the V.F.D II . If anyone from the V.F.D is reading, please be so kind as to come and rescue me and my associate, Contessa 'Tess' Dragmire, from Olaf's clutches immediately. Thank you.   
  
With all due respect,  
  
Lily H. Ackart  
  
~The World Is Quiet Here~ |  
  
The Tumbling Tower  
  
Tumbling can mean two things. One, is a gymnastic move that young children like to brag about being able to do, and it can mean things coming crashing to the ground. As this book uses the second version of the word's meaning, I would highly advise you to exit out of this fan-fic right now, log off the internet, run away from the computer you found it on as quickly as you can, and go watch a nice movie such as The Little Mermaid. You would be far better off squeezing lemon juice into fresh wounds, which is very painful, than reading any farther than you already have. However, if you are still reading this far, I suppose you think you are brave and bold and are expecting some epic story where things will look grim but everything will turn out alright. You are sadly mistaken, for things will NOT turn out alright. So, unless you are somewhat rich and can afford a lot of therapy afterwards, read no further. This is your LAST CHANCE. Fine. Suit yourself. But don't dare sue me, because I tried.  
  
The scenery flashed past the Baudelaire siblings as they were swept downstream. Sunny was clinging to Violet, who was holding as tightly as she could to her brother and the broken leather straps of the sled they were using as a boat for the moment. The cold water thrashed wildly around them, but the fact that they were in an utterly dreadful situation wasn't what the three orphaned children where concerned about at the moment. No, it was the fact that their newest friend, Quigly Quagmire, was being swept rapidly downstream in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION.  
  
" S.O.S!!!" cried Sunny, which meant something along the lines of 'Someone, please help us!!' Violet let out a shriek as they hit a particularly rough spot, and almost let go of Klaus for a moment. Klaus was coughing and sputtering and trying desperately to get back into the toboggan with his siblings. Needless to say, he was failing miserably.   
  
"Violet! Try to get me back in! Hurry!" The middle Baudelaire yelled through several mouthfuls of the ashy water in which he was in. It would have been bad enough to be tossed into a horrible river when trying to escape villains , but a river dirty with ashes because those villains had burned down the place one of your parents could have been was simply dreadful. With a lot of difficulty, the eldest child yanked her brother into the toboggan with her. Klaus whimpered and clung to his sisters with one hand, and to the toboggan with another.   
  
The youngsters went on like this for quite a while, before they managed to crash themselves onto a muddy bank. Violet was breathing hard, and her eyes were wide. Sunny was crying silently out of terror and still clutching the poncho Violet was wearing. Klaus was shivering and hugging his older sister around her middle. They were still in shock from the recent white-water rafting trip they had been on. Violet had always begged her parents to take them white-water rafting when she was younger, as it seemed like such fun and a thrill, but at the time she had meant the proper way with a raft, life jackets, and a guide. She had not wanted to go in a toboggan with her younger siblings without life jackets, a guide, or her parents. As the Baudelaires sat there, wet, cold, and still shaken, there came something that surprised them quite a lot... 


	2. Chapter the second

A/N: Sorry the last chapter was somewhat short. I'm sad to say it was due to the fact that Olaf took the computer I was typing it on and smashed it into the nearest wall. However, Tess, being the well-read person she is, used the flashlight I fashioned from a lightbulb, battery, and a few paperclips to send out the 'S.O.S' sign through our window...   
  
***********  
  
Chapter Two  
  
The thing that was surprising the Baudelaires wasn't a bear, person, or even a three headed monster from a distant planet come to take their tonsils. It was a pair of voices singing an odd yet cheerful song. They both sounded female, and we're getting closer with every second. Klaus was suprised anyone could sound so cheerful. Sunny was suprised anyone was out here. But Violet was possibly the most supised, because two things hit her all at once. She now knew where she had heard V.F.D's motto before, and she knew one of the voices. The children sat there in awe as the slightly deeper voice of the two sung by herself.  
  
" We'll grab you by the ankles  
  
Where our mark is to be made.  
  
You'll soon be doing noble work  
  
Although you wont be paid..."  
  
The voice that sounded familiar to Violet finished.  
  
"When we drive away in secret,  
  
You'll be a volunteer.  
  
So don't scream when we take you   
  
The world is quiet here -- OHMYGOSH!"  
  
The 'Ohmygosh' the girl blurted out, of course, wasn't part of the song. It was out of pure shock that sitting there, was a person she had not seen in a very long time. The utter stranger to the younger Baudelaires ran up and tightly embraced their sister, who hugged back in joy that they weren't alone still. " VIOLET!" The girl squealed, getting drenched herself from hugging the other girl. Violet was smiling, whilst Sunny and Klaus sat there, waiting for their sibling to tell them what on earth was going on here.  
  
"Lily! Is it really you?? It can't be!" Violet cried, finally releasing and looking over the other girl. If it was her, she had grown a lot since they had last met. Her hair was longer and a bit darker, and she had budded from a cute seven-year-old into a lovely fourteen-year-old, much like she had. Lily and Violet had known one another when they were younger, as their teachers used their names as a sort of pun and paired them with one another for every group project. But, during the summer after they met, Lily moved away to a bigger house away from the Baudelaires, and despite she was in the same city still, she left Violet's school and they lost touch. Another girl whom had blonde hair and pale olive green eyes looked over them, looking as sunrise as Klaus and Sunny looked. Violet finally noticed and cleared her throat.  
  
"This is Lily. We used to be quite close friends... you may remember   
  
her Klaus. Lily and Lily's friend, this is Klaus and our baby sister Sunny."   
  
Her brother shook his head. "Nope... I don't remember you Lily. It's nice to meet you though."   
  
"And this is Tess everyone. So, Violet. Care to explain how you got here?"   
  
"Not really, but I will..." The eldest Baudelaire sighed heavily, and told the tale of her and her siblings misfortune, from the day at Briny Beach all the way to where they were now. Lily and Tess would occasionally look to one another, nodding grimly. I'm sad to say that the children's sudden turn for the better was going to soon turn back for the worst, no matter how things may seem for the next few chapters of this fic. If I were you, I'd drop it now and pretend that The Baudelaires were reunited with all three Quagmires, and Lily and Tess and everyone lived happily ever after. I know better than this, but they youngsters certainly didn't...  
  
********  
  
A/N: Oh dear. Im afraid I am going to be cut short once again, as Someone is banging on our door and Tess has informed me it is a man with hooks rather than hands... 


	3. Chapter the third

A/N: Well, I have escaped once again, but must compliment Olaf for his persistance. (( Actually, school has just engulfed my life, and I haven't been able to type ^^;; )). Please excuese spelling errors in this one, as Im too lazy to spell-check it just now...  
  
*******  
  
As it happened, Lily and Tess we're currently staying in an abandoned cabin nearby, and had come across the Baudelaires while looking for firewood and fetching water. Lily and Tess knew the horrors the Baudelaires had faced, as they too had been being stalked by the wretched man that had ruined their lives.  
  
" My parents died in a fire too; so did Lily's. My parents left me a lot of diamonds. Once Im of age, my family could live off of the jewels for the next three generations at least..." Tess explained. " They even named one after me. The Contessa diamond was stolen shortly before I was orphaned from the museam.. I bet ANYTHING Olaf did it."  
  
Lily nodded grimly. " Yes. My mother and father, as Violet knows, left me loads of money they had made in various ways. My dad used to own a computer software company, and my mother was a writer. Julie Ackart..." Klaus patted the girl's hand.  
  
" I'd heard of her. She wrote a novel, right?" Lily nodded.  
  
"Several.. and had more on the way. They were all lost in the fire though. Its sort of ironic, how we all survived but are miserable anyway. I'd almost RATHER be dead. That way we wouldent have to deal with Olaf and all that stuff..." The children went on for quite a while with their discusion, eventually starting a fire and makeing a small batch of s'mores. For the first time in a while, all the children felt truely content. They were eating a delisious, if a bit sticky and messy, treat, and were in good company. Lily and Tess had figured out how to filter the fire's smoke, so as not to draw attention to themselves, and had each found a small loophole so they could get a small amount of their fortunes that they used to buy food. The cabin itself was only two rooms, and the bedroom only had two average sized beds. After the sun had set, the children found this delemia, but put their heads together and came up with something. They figured two could fit in each bed, so Violet, Tess, Lily, and Klaus would all sleep in there. Lily took off two blankets and a pillow, put them in a basket in a comforatble looking way, and laid Sunny in it. She smiled.  
  
" I do hope thats okay Sunny. Are you comfortable?"  
  
"Brio!" Sunny said happily, which meant something along the lines of 'Yes! Its very nice, thank you." The baby snuggled down into the folds of the blankets contently. Lily and Tess settled down into their own bed and Klaus and Violet theirs, but as none could sleep, they had a massive pillow fight withen ten minutes. After that, the children truely WERE sleepy, and all fell asleep almost immediatly. The all slept like logs to boot. I of course, do not mean the orphans all turned into logs one might want to kick, I mearly mean they all slept as motionlessly as logs as well.  
  
Lily dremt about having her parents and siblings back, and that they were all in the park going on a picnic with the Dragmires and Baudelaires. Tess dremt about her family and her going to an ice-cream shop and then going outside to enjoy it, while window-shopping in a quaint little shopping-center. Violet dremt she had won an invention contest of sorts, and that her parents, siblings, and friends were cheering for her. Klaus dremt about reading with his mother and father in the now ashy Baudelaire library. And little Sunny dremt about the time before the fire had ever occured. She coulden't recall anything bad for those sweet few hours she dreamed, and her life was pretty well as perfect as it had been before the wretched fire. These were all lovely dreams, and I wish all of these things could have been true. But alas, they were not. They were mearly figments of the children's deep, shared desire: To have their parents back. 


	4. Chapter the fourth

A/N: -claps her hands happily- hooray for reveiws!! -passes out candy to everyone who reveiwed- I feel all special nowww ^,^ -in a very good mood now, as she got the "rare" edition of the Bad Beginning yesterday with a Shaman King and a Ranman 1/2 manga-  
  
The children awoke the next day to a rather horrible sound and feeling. Now, you may have awoke to a horrible sound and feeling before. I myself awoke this morning to the ghastly sound of my alarm clock and felt as though my head was going to pop off due to its annoyingly loud and high pitched ' BEEP BEEP!!'. You have more than likely awoken to the sound of yourself coughing and the feeling of being sick before. But all of these were miniscule, a word here meaning small, compared to what Lily, Tess, and the Baudelaires were awoken with. The noise was a crackle only too familiar the the children, and the feeling was terror and heat. Tess and Klaus awoke first, both being nearest the window. Tess rubbed her eyes blearly while Klaus put his glasses on, and both gasped at what they saw in unison. Fire. Right outside the window. Before they had time to awake the others, the window burst from heat with a loud CRACK. Violet, Lily, and Sunny all awoke with a start. Sunny promptly began to cry in terror, and Violet reached for her ribbon while she lept from the bed. When she looked to Lily, she couldent help but smile a little. She already had her brunette hair tied back in a light blue ribbon. She really had kept that habit. Violet picked up Sunny, who stopped crying in the comforting arms of her sister.  
  
" Guys.. We have to get out of here.. NOW." Lily said, although it was really unnessisary, as they were all scurrying about picking up things they thought they might need. Tess had barged into the other room and put all of it into what was previously Sunny's bed. After about two more minutes, the back of the cabin caught fire, and the children were forced into leaving, not paying attention to what they were leaving. What they stepped into was nothing short of a full out inferno, flames greedily lapping up everything around them. Sunny whimpered loudly and buried her little face in Violet's shoulder, trying to sheild herself from the scorching heat. Everyone else instictivly coughed at the ashy air, sheilding their faces and squinting to see. Klaus was able to see the best out of the group, as he was wearing glasses, and scoped out a narrow pass.  
  
" Come on! This way!!" He sputtered through the smoke. The three females ( not including Sunny, as she still had her head burried in Violets shoulder) nodded and scampered, a word here meaning ' walked quickly to with difficulty due to smoke', to the boy, who had since walked to the narrow pass not engulfed by raging flames. They all ran through, barely missing a falling, flaming tree. The ran as quickly as they could, only to find themselves at a cliff wall. Lily panted and stared up. Violet closed her eyes quickly, wracking her brain for an invention. Sunny finally looked up for a fresh breath of air, but hid her face again at the sight of the ever gaining flames. Klaus thought about anything he had read on forest fires, and Tess thought about past rock-climbing lessons she had taken.  
  
" We're TRAPPED." Klaus said slowly, tears lacing his voice. 


	5. Chapter the fifth

A/N: wheeee @_@; ... -types- You BETTER appreciate this! It's taken me nearly an hour and a half to write ;p |  
  
" Not necessarily..." Lily commented. " If me and Tess can climb down from a locked room twenty-eight stories up, we can probably climb up this.. it isn't THAT high. Maybe ten stories, tops?" Tess nodded in agreement.  
  
" Yeah. I was in rock climbing when I was little, and this looks pretty easy..." The two oldest Baudelaires looked at the two in horror, but contemplated what it would feel like to be burned to a crisp instead... And it really didn't suit them. Lily caught a glimpse of Violets uncertaintly, and smiled.   
  
" Its okay Violet. You can trust me and Tess' judgement." Lily soothed, and Violet nodded weakly. Tess cracked her knuckles and looked up, suddenly business-like.   
  
" Allllright! I'll go up first, as I'm the one who had lessons and knows what I'm doing. Lily should come up next, then Klaus, then Violet. We'll have to strap Sunny to one of our backs somehow." Lily grinned and pulled out a long, hideous pink satin ribbon, that looked as if it had once belonged to a bathrobe.  
  
" Olaf made me wear this thing... it was HORRIBLE. But I think I can tie Sunny my back. C'mere Sunny." Lily hoisted the youngest Baudelaire onto her back and tied her to herself in a way she had seen in a Japanese movie entitled Grave of the Fireflies. She jumped around a bit to make sure Sunny was secure, and then lined up next to the wall, the heat starting to become smothering once more. Tess started the climb, carefully placing her hands and feet into small holes in the cliff's face. Lily followed, carrying Sunny and apparently having relative ease with it. Klaus followed Lily, and Violet went last, making a mental note to come up with an invention that could scale a rock face for you.   
  
The flames reached the base of the cliff at an alarming rate, and all five children could feel the heat searing at their backs. The fire slowly began to attach itself to the dry grasses that had found small patches of dirt and began to eat away at that as well. They had to hurry, or they'd surely be burnt to a crisp... They all hurried, hands getting cut, knees getting scraped, and all and all getting banged up. But, surely enough, the children made it to the top before the flames even had a chance to get within 10 yards if them. All three were panting heavily, but all had triumphant smiles on their faces as they walked swiftly away from the ledge, escaping the fire.  
  
" We...rock...no...pun...intended..." Lily breathed slowly, Sunny still in her back. The others nodded, all exhausted from the climb. A cold gust of wind blew against them, causing them all to feel oddly cold. It gave each youngster a off, tingling sensation, as they had been scorching hot only a few minutes ago. They all instinctively huddled closer together to conserve heat. They walked...and walked...and walked. In fact, I cannot contain in writing how long these five children walked into the cold night, all shivering and nearly freezing the whole way. None had a clue as to where they were going, nor did they really CARE. They just needed to find shelter and get away from the fire. At first, they discussed several things and finally all agreed Olaf had set the fire, and just had not anticipated their escape. Anticipated is a word here meaning expected the children to be clever and strong enough to climb up a cliff face. But eventually, they all fell silent, shivering too hard to care. Violet gave up her poncho, which Lily and Tess quickly decided to share, and they wrapped the ribbon around Sunny in an almost mummy style. Shortly after that, Violet ripped the poncho's neck a bit and huddled under it with the others, and lastly, Klaus joined them as well. They looked quite funny, although it wasn't comical to the children. They were cold, cramped, exhausted, hungry, and frightened. And that, if you can't tell, is NOT the best combination of moods to be in. In the early morning sun, the group could make out a faint shape in the distance...  
  
" Whazzat??" Lily inquired sleepily, squinting and yawning.  
  
" I dunno." Tess responded.  
  
" Can't tell..." Violet added.  
  
" Too far away." Klaus finished.  
  
" Busco." Sunny said, meaning " My guess is as good as yours..."  
  
The youngsters all stared for a moment, trying to figure out what on earth was coming towards them... 


	6. Chapter the sixth

A/N: I *might* not be updating a who lot guys. Mum wants us to move to Texas (I live in Kentucky. LONG drive) and Im really upset now. I literally just made new friends ( ive been pretty well ALONE for two years, as Rachel and me don't see each other much despite the fact we go to the same school, and Brittany and Londyn both live like, an hour away. NOT FAIR.  
  
*****  
  
"It looks a bit lopsided..." Tess finally observed after the group had been silent for nearly five minutes. There were several murmurs of agreement, although none were really understandable. It DID look lopsided, whatever it was. It reminded Lily and Violet of when they had forgot some plastic they had been heating so it would be bendable for one of their science projects. They had forgotten all about it when one of their favorite television programs came on. It had caught fire, causing Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaire to come running in and put it out. What remained after it had cooled was nothing short of a rather shapeless blob.  
  
" You know... It looks a little like a bunch of hot air balloons all tied togethe-- HOLY! One of those things on top just popped! It is a bunch of balloons!" Lily exclaimed, right as it all clicked for the sleep deprived Baudelaires. Why hadn't it hit them sooner?? Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were suddenly hit with a wave of joy and concern. The Quagmires and Hector!! But, by the looks of things, they were about to crash.  
  
" DUNCAN!" Violet cried.  
  
" ISODORA!" Klaus yelled, matching his sister in tone and volume.  
  
" HECTOR!" Sunny shouted, although she wasn't very loud. Lily and Tess looked to one another, exchanging ' no WAY' looks. Lily looked to Violet, seeking condolence  
  
" .. Do any of those people write couplets, by any chance?" She quickly asked, Violet nodding frantically. You may find that a sudden rush of adrenaline, a substance ones body makes when one is excited or frightened, will wake you up very quickly. I experienced this when I was taken from my bed by two woman with powdered faces.  
  
" Isodora... why?" Violet questioned, her eyes straying from Lily's face back to the Self-sustaining hot air mobile that was coming down fast. Lily waved a series of couplets in front of her friends face. Tess tugged several from her own pocket.  
  
" Crows." Tess explained quickly. Lily cleared her throat.  
  
" 'Someone help us; Oh please do!  
  
Come and rescue us from certain doom!'" She recited. " Or there's this one:   
  
' Baudelaires, anyone, please help us soon.  
  
For soon our balloon home will go boom.'  
  
Cheery, huh? We sent crows back, but we never got replies. Only a few couplets every so often. We reckon the crows didn't listen to us."  
  
" Enough chitchat! We have to help them!!" Tess nagged.  
  
" But HOW? We can't very well get up there? We don't have wings, and we can't do much from here." Klaus said worriedly, thinking back to anything he may have read that would have been of any help.  
  
" We need something that would reach out and catch them if they fell." Lily said slowly, her eyes closed and her face set, the gears turning.   
  
" But we don't really have any materials to do that with." The eldest Baudelaire whimpered, staring at the ever approaching machine. She could hear the frightened cries of the Quagmires and Hector... Sunny, Klaus, and Tess watched the scientists of the group think, while wracking their own minds for anything that might assist them. A light came on in Lily and Violet's brains at the same moment.  
  
" I've got it!" The cried in unison, smiling at one another.  
  
" If we can hear them, then they can hear us and we can give them directions. Things are distorted from the air, and they can't properly tell how far away they are or how far down it really is..." Lily started.  
  
" And they're coming towards us, so if we can steer them here just right, they can just jump to safety. It looks like almost half of their balloons have popped, so they aren't that high up..."  
  
" It's risky..."  
  
" But it's all we've got." Tess sighed, frowning slightly. And it was.. if anyone misjudged even by a foot, the Quagmires and Hector would certainly fall to their dooms. 


	7. Chapter the seventh

A/N: THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER SEVEN!!! AND Im BACK -slides in on knees- whoo! For now anyways. Read da lookup... Anywho, I PROMISE I'll do better after the highschool fiasco is over... oh.. did I mention my math teacher is working for Olaf??.. yeah T_T;; Anywho! On to -cough-the extra long to make up for my absence -cough- chapter seven!! |  
  
The hot air mobile drew closer, and Duncan, Isadora, and Hector's screams of terror were quite hearable at this point. All three were frantic, and Isadora sounded like she was crying. Lily, Tess, Violet, and Klaus ( Sunny was a tad too short ) exchanged glances. They silently took places along the edge while Sunny jumped around, trying to attract the group aboves attention. Surely enough, the Quagmires and Hector noticed her, and got quiet.  
  
" OKAY!! QUAGMIRES! HECTOR!!! YOU HAVE TO JUMP WHEN WE TELL YOU TO!!!" Violet cried. Isadora, who was now quite visible, got a stricken look. Duncan looked frightened, yet calm, and Hector quite frankly looked more terrified than Duncan and Isadora put together. So much for cool, composed adults. It was up to the children now...  
  
" IT'S THE ONLY WAY! YOU HAVE TO TRUST US!!" Klaus added. Tess and Lily stayed silent, desiding it was best to let the Baudelaires handle this. They KNEW the people up there... Apparently quite well, by the way they were acting.  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
" Crazy, the lot!! They're LOONEYS!! They want us to JUMP??! It's suicide I tell you!! Suicide!!" Hector cried... alas, being in the air for so long had gotten to him... The Quagmires rolled their eyes.   
  
"It's nuts, but If Violet came up with it, we have to trust it..." Duncan said slowly.  
  
" Yeah. Lets go for it.. at least we have a shot that way." Isadora said, nodding with her brother, they stared out, wondering who the two new girls were below, but not really CARING. All they knew was that they needed to get out of this thing soon... or else they were going to go, as Isadora had put it, kaboom. The two triplets clutched one another's hands for support and comfort, their notebooks tucked under their arms.   
  
"ALRIGHT BAUDELAIRES!!" Isadora called down.  
  
" WE'RE READY WHEN YOU ARE!!" Duncan finished. The balloon was forever gaining towards the mountain where their friends were. Another Balloon popped, shocking the twho children, causing them to cry out. Their side as now sagging.  
  
Back on the ground, all the youngsters let out small screams too FOR the Quagmires and Hector... Although Hector coulden't be seen anymore as he had huddled into a corner, rocking back and forth like a small child. Yup.. being up in the air had really messed with the poor man's head... Lily stared up. " A bit more.. a bit moreee.." she murmered, greyish blue gaze fixed on the object above like a missle. They had to get this right. Or else they'd jump too far away and fall to their dooms. But if they waited to long, they'd hit a side of the mountain and die THAT way. Not to mention, they had to be careful too. For if that machine rammed into the side of the mountain and they weren't a fairly good way away or behind something, THEY would die, or be injured at the least. All of the children were focused. Duncan and Isadora were straining to see and hear them... and the children below were all watching intently, ready to tell them to jump at any moment. Violet, Lily, Tess, and Klaus glanced to one another after two more minutes had passed, all nodding.   
  
" JUMP!!" they all screetched in unison, a word here meaning together, thus making them VERY loud. Duncan and Isadora parted their hands, smiling at one another an scrambling to the rim of their basket. Isadora's eyes widened in fear. It was a long way down.  
  
" D.. Duncan!! I'm scared!!" She whispered. Her brother too, looked terrified.  
  
" C'mon Isadora.. we HAVE to do this!!" he countered, collecting all his courage. " One...two... three!" Both triplets lept from the machine, landing with hard thuds in the spaces between Klaus and Violet and Tess and Lily. They all helped the Quagmires up.  
  
" Hector!!" Sunny said frantically.  
  
" He's gone nuts." Duncan explained. " I think it happened when our first balloon popped. They werent too durable, and after a while they wore down too much for use to repair them."  
  
"..uh... GUYS..." Tess whimpered, pointing towards the machine, which was getting closer to the side with every passing second. Lily grasped Violet and Klaus by the wrists and started to drag them along forcefully towards the nearest cave. Tess picked up Sunny quickly and motioned for the Quagmires to follow. They all hurrided in, the darkness engulfing them all. The all huddled together, the Baudelaires and Quagmires chattering happily, Tess and Lily intertwining their arms and putting the sides of their heads together in a nervous manor. Then, with a large heave of the ground below them :  
  
B  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
O  
  
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O  
  
O  
  
M  
  
M  
  
M  
  
M  
  
M  
  
M  
  
M  
  
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!  
  
!  
  
!  
  
It rumbled the very mountain, and all seven youngsters could look over and see the inferno rushing by just outside the mouth of their makeshift shelter. A forceful gust of hot air pushed against all of them, scalding their faces... Terror swept over them, and all of them had the thoughts ' Oh dear, I'm going to DIE.' and 'My ears are going to EXPLODE!'. As I write this, I can only imagine these things... Especially as me and Tess are currently locked in a room that is filling with water... My... I certainly wish I had worn my swimsuit and brought my water wingies with me today...  
  
*************  
  
A/N: Yeah.. it was terrible.. but it WAS longer than most of my other chapters, so you have to give me credit!! Again.. too lazy to spell check.. DEAL with it... oh yeah.. please reveiw!! You can say how much you hate me for being so lazy and everything!! 


	8. Chapter the eighth

|A/N: Okay, I FINALLY got off my bum and wrote my Saturday morning away. ... especially on account of the fact Tess has started to nag me about it ^^;; That and I got a lovely ASOUE Calendar last Saturday and have been drooling over it all week. Pardon suckyness. I was up until two playing Final Fantasy and watching Tech TV until mum MADE me go to sleep... drat...|  
  
The gust of the explosion sent all the children tumbling into the nearest wall, forming them into a large clump. The boom alone lasted a good minute... All of them screamed, although it was impossible to hear them over the roar. They all lay there, tangled and dazed, a term here meaning "confused and almost delusional", for a moment before their senses returned and they began to attempt scrambling to their feet. This however, was difficult, as the smoke from the explosion had thrown the group into utter darkness.  
  
"Ack!! Klaus! Get your foot off my head!" Lily said irritably.  
  
" But my foot is all the way over here!" he protested  
  
"Well! Whoever has their foot on my head, get it OFF!"  
  
" Op! Sorry Lily! Now get YOUR leg off my arm!" Tess snapped. There came a muffled sort of noise.  
  
"Oh! Sorry Isadora!"  
  
" Trying to smother me Duncan...!" she gasped. Apparently he had landed on top of her...  
  
"OUCH!! Who kicked me!?"  
  
"Sorry Violet!!"  
  
This went on for some time, until all seven youngsters pulled themselves to their feet and started to feel around. As they walked out, the smoke had cleared enough for them to see the wreckage. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks at the smoldering sight. It was nothing more than a twisted piece of rubble. Isodora sniffed slightly and held back tears while walking over and picking up a small, slightly warped piece of metal. Duncan put on his best brave face and went to comfort his sibling. The Baudelaire children watched while Lily and Tess just stood where they were. The looked to one another, feeling as though they just didn't quite fit in. The others knew each other quite well, apparently, and they... they knew each other, but no one else. They knew the Baudelaires vaguely, a word here meaning ' not well enough to know that they wont set your meeting hall on fire with a box of matches', and the Quagmires were even MORE a mystery. As if they both read one another's minds, they slowly turned and started to walk away. The Quagmires and Baudelaires were much too busy to even notice them leave.  
  
If the Baudelaires and Quagmires had noticed Lily and Tess leaving, perhaps things would have turned out differently; and for the better. But alas, as many things in this world, everything did NOT turn out okay. In fact, things didn't even turn out average. They turned out to be filled with misery and woe for many. But, I cannot reminisce while writing this, mourning for all those I have lost. I must continue to supply you with the story of the Tumbling Towers, however painstaking it may be.  
  
It was a long while before the Baudelaires even noticed the other two were gone. Violet had been explaining how they had gotten up on the rock face when Lily and Tess came up. She turned to invite them into the conversation to find she was only speaking to a large patch of air. The Baudelaires immediately went from rather calm to frantic. the Quagmires, seeing their friends distressed, instantly got worried too. The five children had a new problem to worry about. Where were Tess and Lily?!  
  
|A/N: Perhaps I'm not as inspired as I thought. That or perhaps It's because I'm fed up with making errors because Olaf's cage is swinging too much... creep. He could have at least secured it better so any writers he traps wouldn't have this problem.| 


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